Mint marks have been used on coins since ancient times. But why? It isn't an anti-counterfeiting measure, it doesn't add to the value*, and who really cares what building/city/etc it came from? I doubt it helps with determining rate of circulation, or as an indicator of usage. Even taking current coinage, what is the purpose of a mint mark? The Philadelphia mint only recently started using the 'P' (war nickels excluded), and there have been a number of West Point mint releases that weren't marked. It seems o me the only people who really are interested in mint marks, are numismatists, but coins with mint marks were around long before numismatics. Any ideas? * It doesn't add value to the coins' intrinsic value, ie., a 2000 quarter only worth 25¢ as far as the general public, and the US Mint are concerned, no matter which mint produced it. As we all know on CT, the MM can mean a huge difference in value, but that's collector value, which is not what coins were initially intended for, it's a need/desire we as collectors created.
Why wouldn't it stop counterfeiting? Or stop the currency being debased? If you insist your moneyers identify their coins, you know who is responsible for any suspicious variations in weight, and you know who to ask if a coin is suspected of being counterfeit. My ancestor worked for the Bank of England in the 1800s, and his department signed every note so that he and his colleagues could give evidence in court against anyone suspected of counterfeiting. He appeared in court a lot.
Mint marks I think came about as a quality control/tracking/auditing issue. If your Silver dollar turned out to be only 80% silver, then you'd have evidence that the Carson City Mint was defrauding the public!!!
The question came about (in my head) after reading this post in the Ancients forum. I don't think when that coin was produced the general population had the tools or knowledge to determine if the quality of the metal was sub-par or if the coin was underweight, so IMO, tracking down the producer of a sub-par coin wouldn't really apply i don't think? I also don't think the Antioch government had the level of quality control or concern as modern(ish) mints/government do/did?
The general population didn't have to. The authorities did. They wanted to stop counterfeiters. And they must've been able to tell, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to produce coins to such precise standards in the first place. (Gold and silver in any case). The guilds of London (and other countries) emerged in the Middle Ages precisely to ensure the quality of their members' production, and they often used hallmarks etc to trace pieces back to source (and prosecuted anyone producing anything without such a mark).
Maybe it wasn't for the public. Maybe it was for the government just for tracking and basic quality control. For instance, when did Philadelphia start using a Mint Mark and on which coins? They really never used a mint mark for a very long time. here's more of a complete answer from ==> https://www.usmint.gov/learn/collecting-basics/mint-marks#:~:text=Mint marks are letters that,each of the Mint facilities. Mint marks are letters that identify where a coin was made. They hold the maker responsible for the quality of a coin. When the U.S. used precious metals such as gold and silver to make circulating coins, a commission evaluated the metal compositions and quality of coins from each of the Mint facilities. The evaluations ensured that each facility produced coins to the correct specifications. Philadelphia was the only branch in operation in the Mint’s earliest years, so identifying the sources of a coin was not necessary. A March 3, 1835 Congressional Act established mint marks in the United States
If you were the owner of a large manufacturing firm that ran three 8-hour shifts daily, wouldn't you want to know which shift was producing the most? If your end product was no different from every other one, how would you know who made it? ~ Chris
The Spanish Colonial mint coins have both the mint ID and the assayer's mark so if the coins turned out to be unreported to the king, they knew whom to hang.